Robby Clark called the jury commission office to find out what happened.

While the state agency got his son's name and address correct, someone apparently had typed 1982 for Jacob's birth year instead of 2002, Deborah Clark said.

The mistake was quickly corrected, she said.

Summonsing a child "doesn't happen that often," Massachusetts Jury Commissioner Pamela Wood said. "We hear about it once or twice a year."

Erroneous birth years usually originate in the census records of the municipality where the child resides, she said.

Some town officials will enter fictional birth dates — such as Jan. 1, 1980 — if parents do not supply a birth year for their child, Wood said.

The state discourages town officials from appropriating birth dates that are within the realm of human possibility, she said.

It asks municipal officials to leave the date blank or to type in something obviously fictional, such as July 4, 1776, Wood said.

Folks who seem to be born the same year as the United States or have no birth year will receive jury summons, Wood said.

But it's important to keep the juror system inclusive, she said. Prospective jurors still in their childhoods or over the age of 70 can call the jury commissioner's office to explain the situation.

"We can just clear it up over the phone for you," she said.

Things get more complicated if parents ignore multiple summons for their child. If it reaches the level of a notice of delinquency, the parents will have to come up with some kind of proof of the child's age, such as a birth certificate, Wood said.

Deborah Clark said her grandson was relieved to learn he had ducked jury duty — for now.